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Virulence factors profile of drug-resistant Escherichia coli isolates from urinary tract infections in Punjab, Pakistan

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Abstract

Escherichia coli is considered to be the main causative agent of urinary tract infections (UTIs). The primary objective of this study was to investigate the spectrum of five virulence factors among drug-resistant clinical E. coli isolates associated with pyelonephritis and cystitis. A total of 101 samples were positive for E. coli (42 from pyelonephritis cases and 59 from cystitis cases) out of 457 urine samples of patients. Among toxins, haemolysin and secreted autotransporter toxin are found more frequently in isolates causing pyelonephritis (p < 0.020) than cystitis (p < 0.083). The frequent occurrence of P-pili, S-fimbria and protein involved in intestinal colonisation was noted among E. coli isolates associated with pyelonephritis. Overall, the study suggests that clinical isolates associated with pyelonephritis are more virulent than those associated with cystitis and diversified association with various antimicrobial resistance phenotypes was noted.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology and the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) for providing the funding and basic facilities for this project. The authors acknowledge the participating hospitals from Rawalpindi and its surroundings for their kind cooperation in collecting the samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Chak Shazad Campus, Park Road, Islamabad, Pakistan

    M. Idress, U. Mussarat, Y. Badshah, R. Qamar & H. Bokhari

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  1. M. Idress
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  2. U. Mussarat
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  3. Y. Badshah
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  4. R. Qamar
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  5. H. Bokhari
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Correspondence to H. Bokhari.

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Idress, M., Mussarat, U., Badshah, Y. et al. Virulence factors profile of drug-resistant Escherichia coli isolates from urinary tract infections in Punjab, Pakistan. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 29, 1533–1537 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-010-1036-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-010-1036-6

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